great food + gorgeous photography

Easy Apple Cake & My Not-So-New Tart Pan

Tarts are cool. Much cooler than cake or pie, for that matter. Tarts are just so laid back-like they have no worries. Unlike me; I worry about everything.

Ages ago I bought a tart pan…and when I write ages I mean sometime in 2011. Whilst pondering the very cool and laid back things I wanted to bake in said pan, I came across this recipe from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks. It is simple and unfussy, which is definition of laid back. Is it not?

This recipe is great if you want to make something quick and impressive for dessert or a lazy Sunday morning. I used whatever apples I had on hand which is invariably, Fuji. Fuji is my favorite apple, unless Honey Crisp is in season. Then I’m like…Fuji who?

This batter makes quite a bit of dough, too much for my 9 x 1.5 pan. I suggest halving the recipe or baking it in two pans. Otherwise, your finished product will be quite dense and won’t cook all the way through.

My favorite part of the cake was the crust-all shiny and golden. Would you consider me weird for slicing the crust off the top and leaving the rest behind? Yes? Then I guess I’m weird…and I’m ok with that.

Apple Cake Photo Notes

This shoot was a bit of a bust. It started off fine, but plumbers + food photography = disaster. Let me explain.

I work out of a really cool photo studio in a beautiful apartment complex built in the 1920’s. I love the space, but last year, the adjoining art studio was taken over by a plumbing company. Unfortunately, we share a common bathroom and I’ve learned photographers and plumbers don’t mix. I have a “live and let live” attitude, but these guys can be a headache.

The latest drama came in the middle of the apple cake shoot. A plumber knocked on my door and said “We need to run a cable through your studio for the new security cameras we’re putting up in the hallway.” This wasn’t good. I told them to call the landlord and went about my business. After a few minutes, the owner came over and told me he really needed to run a cable through my studio and I told him he really needed to call the landlord. That never happened and they bypassed my studio and did the job anyway. I don’t know why a plumbing company needs “Mission Impossible” style security in a common hallway, but I now have the most secure shared bathroom America. I also have a blown apple cake photo shoot, but those are the breaks.

Here is a lighting diagram for the abbreviated shoot. The setup is the same as the cinnamon rolls recipe.

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Mondo is a self-taught baker, food stylist, and the owner of Mondo’s Morsels. When she's not working or studying American Sign Language, you’ll usually find her waiting impatiently for the latest episode Mr. Robot and stuffing her lactose-intolerant face with bacon-filled grilled cheese sandwiches.